


The Camping Trip

by TeenSpiriT10



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Bit of angst later on, Blood, Camping, Can be viewed as platonic if you choose, Crack Treated Seriously, Fishing, Fluff and Crack, Games, Gen, Going on an Adventure, Hanging Out, Language from Noir once, Many camping clichés, Minor Injuries, Otherwise rated G, Peter B. & Ham & Noir are best dads, Platonic Relationships, WOO, lots of fluff, spider-fam, tiny bit of Gwen/Miles, trouble ensues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-09-28 09:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20423516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeenSpiriT10/pseuds/TeenSpiriT10
Summary: Peter B. pays to reserve a camping location after learning of the rare occasion that all the spider-kids' guardians will be gone for the weekend.—OR:6 spider-people go camping. Things are bound to get a little out of hand.





	1. Day 1 (Friday)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnimationNut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimationNut/gifts).

> What do ya know, I'm here again. I came crawling back to good ol' ITSV. 
> 
> Will I ever stop loving these characters? Probably not.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> (AnimationNut, this is for you. (I meant to have this published before you posted your last chapter but things didn't work out that way) You may notice some similarities between your fic and mine, but it's mainly coincidental. Not trying to copy. Thanks for being an inspiration for the past few months.)

His parents would be gone for the weekend. Something about needing some time alone together. Miles cut them off the moment they started giving each other _those_ looks, giggling like a pair of gossiping high school girls, which wasn't in any way a good look for his 6-foot-something tough cop dad. Gross. Seriously, could they get any more obvious?

"Lock the door, keep the blinds shut, curtains drawn", had been the drill ever since they deemed their son old enough to take care of himself for a few days, but it hadn't always been that way. Jefferson had taken out the "don't forget the pepper spray" and the "keep your whistle on you" that was in effect when Miles was younger.

They rarely left him alone back then, only on the blue moon type occasion when they couldn't find a babysitter for him and were needed somewhere. In those cases, Miles listened to his parents, nodding vigorously when they explained how to use each item, but now looking back on it, the stuff they gave him was more for a woman going out alone. Or rather, just one item specifically: the whistle that had "Rape Whistle" printed in bold on its packaging. That was maybe a twinge extra, but it would have been useful in any dangerous situation, though nothing ever did happen when he was younger.

However, that didn't put a stop to Jefferson and Rio's paranoia. Miles had now been upgraded to taser and was reminded to keep it by him at all times. Miles saw the irony that in a way he _was_ a taser, while his parents remained oblivious to it.

"Dad, seriously?" Miles said at the door, raising an eyebrow. The source of his exasperation was said taser in his dad's outstreched hand, the very one that Miles had purposefully left in its lonesome drawer in his parents' room.

"What?" Jeff asked innocently. He gave the type of smile that showed he was smug when his son reluctantly took it and pocketed it.

"I can take care of myself,” the teen insisted flatly.

Jefferson shrugged and Rio smiled beside him.

"I know, we're just.." he paused to pass Miles some spare house keys after digging around in his pocket, "taking precautions."

Miles' mom nodded in agreement, adding, "We want to protect you, girasol,” Rio reached to kiss her son's forehead, giggling when Miles voiced against the action with a groan.

"Mom!" he whined, pulling back quickly in case she decided to kiss him more, like she ritually did when he left for school at the beginning of the week. Rio closed the distance, but did not pepper Miles with kisses as he feared, instead hugging him tightly to her.

"We love you, Miles," she whispered into his hair.

Miles paused, not sure how to handle the sweet words other than inwardly rolling his eyes. They were overreacting. It was just a weekend apart.

"I know.. love you too," he returned, wrapping his arms around his mom. Jefferson waved them both over.

"Come 'ere,” he pulled his wife and son to him with a chuckle. "We'll see you Monday, alright?"

Miles managed to nod as his dad gave him a playful ruffle of his hair.

"Yeah Dad. See you Monday."

They let go and began to leave, taking their suitcases and bags upon bags of stuff with them, (most of it Rio's), and packing it into the Uber car that would take them to the airport.

"Bye baby!" Rio called and waved. Jeff joined in, waving with one hand while shutting the trunk with the other.

"Bye!" his dad shouted as he and Rio got in and the bearded driver greeted them both in a deep New York monotone that made Miles cringe. The door slammed shut.

Miles smiled and waved as they left, shouting his own goodbyes; he continued to wave as they drove away, until they were out of sight— it was sort of a tradition among them to do so whenever a member or two of their small family left.

He stood for another minute in silence on the top step, then reached for his phone, grinning like a complete idiot.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Yeah?" Gwen asked, her voice drowned out by the bustling noises of people and honking cars on Miles' street.

"I can go."

***

"Is your homework done?"

Peter B rummaged around in Miles' already packed duffle bag, checking off a list in his head. He also checked his stuff sack, making sure the kid had a sleeping bag. Satisfied with both item's contents, he zipped them up and turned to Miles.

"Homework,” he pressed.

Miles snapped his attention to Peter. "Oh, uh yeah. I finished it all in class," he told him. He tried to remember where it was.

"Proof?"

Miles scoffed, still thinking. He spun around and scanned his room. "Gimme a second.." he said absentmindedly as he moved books and clothes out of the way. It turned up under a heap of markers. Ah, the power of cleaning.

Miles smirked, triumphant.  
"There it is."

Peter rolled his eyes. His dark brown irises held a look of suppressed OCD. "Kid, you need to clean your room. It's a mess."

Miles shrugged. "I like it this way. Yeah it's messy, but I know where everything is."

Peter quirked an eyebrow and slowly leaned against Miles' desk. "Yeah, just like your homework?"

The 13-year-old's face flushed with embarrassment. He shoved the homework at Peter, who laxly skimmed over it before setting it down.

"..Shut up," Miles weakly defended. "You can't say anything, your apartment is—"

Peter held up a hand.

"My apartment _was_ messy," he corrected. "Plus, I was wallowing in my depression. You have no excuse, bud."

"Whatever," Miles muttered, defeated.

"Hey."

Miles and Peter felt the sensation marking the presence of another spider-person and turned around to see a vanishing portal and Gwen, who pushed her Versace sunglasses up to her hair and brought a tanned hand to her hip.

"Almost ready to go?" she asked casually.

Peter had to elbow Miles to get him to stop gawking at her.

"Ow!" Miles protested in a whisper, "Dude!"

Peter ignored him and answered, "We'll be ready in a minute."

Gwen nodded and sat down with a small "oof" on Miles' messy bed, crossing her arms over her white crop-top. "Cool. Everyone's already waiting at your place."

"Ok. You got everything packed?"

"Yup," Gwen drawled as she slouched against the wall adjacent to the bed, pulling her phone out to text. Peter watched her with mild amusement.

Teenagers.

"Get your shoes on Miles," he ordered and side glanced at the kid, who was rummaging around for his shoes in the disorganized hell that was his room. He inwardly sighed. It was a wonder the kid found anything at all.

"Ahem," Gwen piped up, holding up Miles' pair of red and white Nike's, which were for whatever reason under a shirt on Miles' bed.

Miles got off the floor and turned around.

"Oh." He blushed. Gwen just smirked at him as she gave him his shoes. "Thanks."

He tugged them on over his long white socks and stood, satisfied. "Alright. Let's go."

Gwen hopped off of Miles' bed gracefully, ready to leave. Miles tried to walk to her side when Peter suddenly blocked his path with his arm.

"Wait," he said and looked down. "Stop."

Miles rolled his eyes. "What?"

"Tie them." Peter gestured to Miles' shoes, and it took the kid a solid five seconds before he realized what the man was talking about. He groaned, reaching down to tie his laces. "Ugh, fine."

Gwen snickered, and Miles silently cursed Peter for calling him out like that.

"You done?"

Miles stood up, scowling at Peter.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go."

The three teleported to Peter's apartment. Whatever conversations that were taking place stopped when they arrived, and Miles was immediately tackled in a hug by Peni. She was practically vibrating on her feet, probably some sugar high that would keep her a bundle of energy until her inevitable crash.

"Woah,” Miles hugged her back. "Hi, Pen."

She let go and beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Are you excited?" she asked exuberantly. "I've never camped in an old fashioned tent before."

From Peter's bed, Ham laughed and shook his head. "I knew we shouldn't have let you eat all that candy."

Peni stuck out her blue raspberry Jolly Rancher colored tongue at him and giggled. Gwen cracked a smile her antics.

"Yeah, I'm excited," Miles said to answer Peni's question, turning to sit next to Noir. Instead he froze, and his eyebrows flew up to his hairline. Noir was not in his usual get-up, which threw Miles for a loop. He had only seen the dark spider a few times without his mask on, so to see him wearing only his thick-lensed glasses, a Spider-Man merch t-shirt that was definitely one of Peter B's, and casual dark blue jeans was kind of freakish.

Peter snorted at Miles' stunned face. Noir raised an eyebrow. "It's rude to stare, probie," he reminded in amusement.

Miles snapped out of his stupor. "Oh, uh, sorry. It's just so weird."

"Noir's always weird kid," Ham pointed out in a flat tone.

Noir scoffed and rolled his eyes.  
"That's rich comin' from a cartoon pig," he deadpanned.

"Whatever edgelord," Ham whispered back, loud enough for the black and white man to hear. The kids laughed.

Confusion spread across Noir's grey features.

"..edgelord?"

"Guys," interrupted Peter, slightly exasperated at the light banter. "We all ready to head out? Bathroom breaks are done?"

Everyone nodded in unison— except for Peni, who hesitated. Peter sighed and ran a hand down his stubble. "Go to the bathroom Peni, we're not gonna be walking to the camp site and have to stop because you drank too much caffeine." he told her.

Slightly embarrassed, Peni nodded and ran off to the bathroom.

She came out a minute later to see everyone with their bags. She grabbed hers and chirped, "Ready!"

Peter nodded and phased out first. Everyone else followed suit.

***

"Hey guys?"

"Yeah?"

"...I need to pee."

Five out of six spiders groaned, while one smiled sheepishly.

"C'mon kid!" cried Ham, turning around to give Miles the stink-eye. Miles raised his hands in defense against the five pairs of eyes glaring at him.

Gwen huffed, slung her bag on her right shoulder, and crossed her arms. She was unamused. Peni held a similar expression.

"Really?"

Miles shrugged lamely. Peter groaned louder. He knew this would happen, he _knew_ it. "Seriously Miles? Why didn't you go back at my place?"

"Because I didn't need to go then!" Miles exclaimed.

Peter threw his head back to face the heavens. His shoulders shook with a dry, hoarse laugh and he put the foldable materials for the tents down in favor of using his hands to wildly gesture. "It's always "I didn't need to go then"!" he yelled in frustration.

"I'm serious!" the teen defended himself. Noir shook his head and gave Miles a light push in the direction of the off-trail woods. "Just go, probie."  
  
Miles stumbled and scowled.  
"Ok, ok." he muttered and left his belongings with them, trudging off to find privacy.

Now stalled on their hike to the camp site— (they could have just teleported to the exact location, but B insisted on hiking there as part of the "experience", since he was paying for it)— the veteran spiders took a well-deserved break while Miles searched for a spot to pee.

Gwen sat down on a rock and dropped her bags, taking in the scenery. The woods in Peter's universe were duller and harsher in line and shape. Yet oddly, they seemed more realistic. The sky was a perfect crisp crystal blue, however duller than her universe's, but it wasn't smudged. It was clear. She liked that.

"Oh look!" Peni suddenly piped up. She was gushing over something the other heroes couldn't see because her body was in the way. They turned to her, gathering close. "Isn't it cute?"

"What is it, doll?" Noir asked curiously. Peni backed away so they could see.

Peter B instantly showed his disgust by jumping back, having come merely 5 inches away from the enormous brown and black spider.

Ham stepped away, saying "Nooope." His reaction was particularly ironic because he used to be a fellow spider himself, before he was bitten by a radioactive pig.

Noir was indifferent, though didn't come any closer than a foot.

Gwen watched it with interest as it shrunk down in the middle of its web, curling its little legs in; the spider didn't appreciate the sudden disturbance and glared at her with all eight eyes when the blonde asked for a stick. Peni handed her a twig off the pine needle covered dirt.

"What are you doing?" Peter demanded in a hushed tone, as if the spider would jump on him if he talked too loud. Gwen laughed at the irony of the situation.

"I'm just poking it. Chill." she answered. She gave the spider a few lackadaisical pokes with the twig. The giant thing scrambled to the corner of its web and raised its front legs in warning. Gwen could see venom glistening off its fangs, but decided to test it again. When the spider looked ready to jump and he could see the two girls were not going to move in time, Noir let go of his stuff and shoved Gwen and Peni out of the way. The spider leaped, and—

"_Sonovabitch!!_ It's on my face!" Noir screamed. Lightning fast, he slapped it off his cheek. The spider fell to the ground, twitching and writhing. Peni gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth. There was the sound of a gun being cocked, and Peter, Gwen, Peni, and Ham's panicked voices all started overlapping as Noir aimed the gun at the spider in the dirt. It took a minute for him to cool off, get over his own panic, before he put the gun away and grumbled. He opted for stomping it with his boot, but Peni stopped him.

"No, don't kill it!" she pleaded. Noir stopped and looked at her incredulously.

"What?" Peter B breathed out in utter disbelief.

"Spider lives matter." she stated firmly. Then to everyone's horror, her own spider crawled down her sleeve onto her bare arm and looked up at all of them, as if saying the same thing. Peni petted her spider gently and it crawled to her shoulder, perching there.

Gwen's pierced eyebrows creased in confusion. "Oookay...?"

Peter had to take time to catch his breath before going on a rant.  
"What the hell? Why did you bring a gun, Noir?" he yelled.

"....bears." Noir answered after a beat.

Peter stood silent. "_Bears?_" he finally questioned. Noir said nothing. Peter shook his head with a groan. "Nevermind."

"And you." he spun on Peni. "Are you kidding me? You brought your spider along? What if it gets killed or something, wouldn't you lose your powers?" Peni shrugged and looked down, not wanting to meet the eldest spider's look of disapproval. "I didn't know he was with me until that spider jumped on Noir." she admitted. Peter could tell she was being honest and sighed.

"Drop it off by your dimension and meet with us at the camp site."

Peni nodded and tapped her watch, teleporting out. It was around this time that Miles finally reappeared, looking relieved and casual. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Ham cackled at that and the young Afro-Latino became very confused and a little offended.

"What?"

"You missed nothing." Gwen answered. Noir gave her a side-glare, but didn't say anything. Gwen gave him a guilty smile. The team trekked forward through the forest for a few minutes before Miles realized something was wrong and halted. "Where's Peni?"

Peter glanced back at him. "She'll meet us there."

***

The tent fell over for about the 20th time. The dirt was too soft and dry and the stakes would not hold.

"Are you gonna let me help now?" asked Ham, who was currently wielding his wooden mallet.

"FINE." Peter said, and he and Noir backed away, not sure what kind of insane cartoon magic he was going to use. Ham didn't do anything unusual, however. He just nailed the stakes deep into the ground. This time, they didn't budge.

Miles, Peni, and Gwen started clapping with bored expressions on their faces. They had watched Peter and Noir try to put up the tent for 20 minutes and deny Porker's help, out of fear that he would destroy said tent. But Ham had it done in less than a minute.

Noir grumbled. His lenses glowed in the setting sun. He leaned against the rough bark of a towering redwood. The younger spiders began to sync their claps in a slow clap. "Shut it." Peter hissed at the kids. They just smiled at him. Cocky brats.

"Let's do the next tent boys!" Ham called in an exaggeratedly optimistic tone, reaching for the second tent. Noir exhaled a tired breath and Peter groaned. Reluctantly they moved to help.

Another 10 minutes and tent number 2 was up, and at last the spiders could set down their respective luggage and rest for a bit before doing any activities. Miles, Peter, and Ham were assigned to the tent on the left. Gwen, Peni, and Noir were assigned to the tent on the right. 

On the matter of bathrooms: thank the Lord they didn't have to worry about digging a latrine. The camp site provided public men and women's stalls, plus showers. The bathrooms were in a small rectangular building off the side of the lake, only about a couple minutes walk away. It made Miles wonder what Peter had to pay to reserve this location.

Peni munched on candy from inside her tent and laid down on her yellow sleeping bag. "Don't lie down, you could choke." Noir chided beside her. Peni rolled her eyes and shoved a handful of candy in her mouth. Gwen laughed and took a red Jolly Rancher. Noir clicked his tongue. "The two of you are lookin' to get diabetes."

"Diabetes is curable in my time." Peni informed boredly through a mouth-full of candy corn. Gwen sat up. "Wait, really?" she asked. Similarly, Noir's eyes widened slightly with interest.

"I mean, yeah. Almost everything is cured in my universe. Like cancer." Peni told them. She didn't know why the two spiders were looking at her like she just grew a second head. She supposed things like that just had a shock factor, even though it shouldn't be a surprise that most diseases would be curable a thousand or so years into the future.

"Huh." Noir mused absentmindedly. He took a PayDay from Peni's stash and started unwrapping it. Peni blinked, confused. "Weren't you just lecturing us about diabetes?" Gwen pointed out in amusement. The black and white man shrugged. "I can just go to Peni's universe and get cured." was his lazy response.

Peni giggled. "Yeah, I'll hook you up." Noir smiled and laid down with the kids; Peni snuggled up into his side and he wrapped an arm around the girl. Gwen, not being as touchy-feely, watched them fondly. Noir side glanced at her and, to the blonde's surprise, shot an arm out to pull her in. Gwen yelped and gave him a mild glare. "Jerk." she muttered, but there was no heat behind it. Noir smirked at her until he heard voices outside of their tent. He sat up alert, and Peni protested at the loss of warmth.

"Hey," Peter's head popped into their tent. "Who wants to help gather firewood?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm good." Gwen and Peni responded in sync. Peter nodded, not surprised. "Kidding. Miles and I will be getting it." As if on cue, Miles stuck his body halfway through the tent next to Peter B. "Hey." he said pointedly to Gwen in that obviously faked deep voice. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Hi Miles." she greeted in an unimpressed tone.

Noir stood up inside the tent, though he had to crouch because of his height. "You sure ya' don't need an extra hand?" he asked. Peter shook his head, no. Noir understood that. B probably wanted to spend some time alone with his respective Spider-kid. "Alright then. I'm goin' to the john."

Peter moved to allow Noir to exit the tent while Miles entered and sat next to Gwen and Peni. "What are you doing, bud? We're about to go." asked Peter as the kid began to scrounge around in Peni's candy pile. Miles looked up at him and simply answered "Candy" before grabbing a handful and standing up.

"Hey!" Peni protested, reaching out to stop the perpetrator. "Thief!" 

Miles scrambled to the eldest spider's side and hid behind him before Peni got the chance to grab his leg. She looked to Peter with a pout on her lips, but he was immune and stared back at her. Miles gave her a smug wave from behind Peter, which was pushing it. Gwen threw a lollipop at Miles' head and it hit him in the nose, effectively wiping the smile off of his face. "Ow!" he yelped, giving her a wounded glance before ducking out.

"_Bye~_" Gwen called after him with a wave. Peni was almost doubled over in laughter as Peter also ducked out with a proud smile directed at the eldest teen.

Miles was rubbing at his nose, which was red where it was hit. Peter snorted at how pitiful the kid looked. "You kind of deserved that." he said and poked a finger at the tip of the newest spider's nose, earning an indignant squawk. "Yeah, I guess I did." Miles admitted, turning his head back to the tent to see Ham walk in. Peter placed a hand on the 13-year-old's shoulder; he looked back at him with a questioning expression.

"C'mon, it's getting late." Peter said, already starting into the woods. Miles tripped as he tried to catch up and swore in Spanish. The elder chuckled as he waited for the kid to come by his side. "Nice."

"Shut up." Miles grumbled. The canopy shaded them as they moved further into the forest's embrace, a pocket of finches took to the trees when they walked past, some leaving downy feathers in their wake. Peter gathered large twigs and moss covered branches as they went, while Miles was more engrossed in the natural serenity of the forest.

"You're supposed to be getting firewood." Peter reminded the boy, who turned around and bore resemblance to a deer caught in the headlights. He blinked stupidly, coming out of whatever train of thought he was having.

"Oh, sorry." Miles finally apologized and rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. B simply raised an eyebrow in response before continuing forward. "So, you ever been camping before?" he asked conversationally.

Miles stood up straight and placed a piece of wood in the crook of his left arm. "Yeah. Only once though, when I was like five. Dad tried to teach me fishing and I got the hook caught in my thumb." he told him. Peter winced and sucked air through his teeth. "Ouch. That really hurts."

Miles laughed and cringed at the memory. "It really does. All I remember from that trip is crying while my mom tried to get it out."

Peter side glanced at Miles, feeling sorry for the teen as he tried to picture that in his mind. "Has that happened to you?" asked Miles out of curiousity.

"Yep. I was ten. I tried to get the hook out of my finger with another hook and ended up sticking myself with both." the elder admitted unashamedly, punctuated with a shrug. Miles burst into laughter and almost dropped his wood. Peter fixed him with a mock glare, stopping to lean against a tree. "Hey, you shouldn't be laughing. It was a traumatic experience for me."

"But it's so _stupid_, why would you try to get the hook out with another hook?" managed Miles through his giggles. Peter scoffed. "Because I was ten, and I was stupid. Now go back to gathering wood." he answered tersely, but there was a hint of amusement in his reply.

Miles raised his free hand up in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright."

The two continued to gather firewood in their little spot— that is until Miles got distracted and veered off into a different direction while Peter was bent over. He noticed that the crunches of leaves under Miles' feet were no longer audible and looked up, having a mini heart-attack when the kid was nowhere in sight.

"Miles!" Peter called. No response. "Miles!!" he yelled louder. A few birds flew away at the noise. A minute or so later, the boy approached from behind Peter.

"What?" he asked casually, as if he wasn't just gone. Peter jumped involuntarily and spun around on Miles. Out of annoyance and concern, his first action was to smack the kid on the back of the head.

"_Hey!_ That hurt.." Miles complained with a pout. B gave an exasperated sigh. "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" he questioned.

"I forgot okay? Jeez. You could've just checked my location." Miles told him honestly as he emphasized the bulky "watch" on his wrist by waving it around.

"..Oh yeah." Peter mused. "Just, please don't do that."

Miles sheepishly smiled. "Sorry." he apologized. Peter shrugged. "Don't worry about it." he said as he looked up at the faded orange sky. The stars were just starting to come out.

"It's getting dark. Let's head back." he decided, hoisting the wood in his arms into a better, more comfortable position.

"You think this is enough?" Miles asked after they turned back, looking between both stacks of kindling.

"Yeah."

***

Miles' marshmallow erupted in yellow flame.

"AHH!! Seriously!?" he screamed. In a moment of panic and brilliance, he waved the stick around rapidly to somehow extinguish the flame instead of just blowing it out. Gwen choked on her smore when she snorted at Miles' panicked reaction. Tears flooded her eyes as she giggled uncontrollably.

"Miles, you're supposed to blow the fire out, not wave your stick around like an idiot." she managed through bouts of coughing. They all laughed at that and Miles groaned, flustered by the fact that was not even the first one he burnt, but the second. Ham wordlessly handed Miles another one and sympathetically patted him on the back. Noir chuckled until he caught a glimpse of Peni shoving a marshmallow in her mouth in the corner, ideally out of sight to do so without being noticed.

"Peni, didn't I tell ya' to stop eatin' the marshmallows straight?" he called out. The girl froze but did not turn around.

"Maybe?" she responded thickly.

Noir shook his head.  
"No, not maybe. Spit it out." he ordered. Reluctantly she oblidged, letting the white mass slide off of her tongue and onto the soft grass. Noir made a miniscule recoil of disgust and sighed. "That's gross, doll."

Peni cheekily grinned at him.

"One of us is gonna somehow step in that." Peter B commented, regarding the slimy mound with a similar revulsion.

Ham put a smore together and crunched into it. "Not gonna be me." he said, memorizing the particular patch of grass it was in. Peni giggled and reached for another marshmallow. Noir raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "I'll put it in a smore this time, ok?" she promised.

She sat back down, joining Miles and Gwen by the fire. Miles had finally managed to make an adequate smore and Peter clapped the teen's back in congratulations, almost making him drop it. "Careful!" Miles cried, cradling it in his hands. "This is my baby."

"Um, okay?" said Peter, a confused smile on his lips as he pulled out a beef hotdog (after meeting Ham the whole team developed an aversion to eating pork) and put it on a stick.

"You're having another hotdog?" asked Gwen in disbelief. Peter had eaten two already. The man hummed in affirmation and sat down with the kids, carefully positioning his hotdog so it would be gently caressed by the fire. "The older you are, the bigger the spider-appetite gets." he explained. "I'm still hungry."

Noir and Ham nodded. "It's true." Ham said. "I used to eat like a bird. Now I-"

"Eat like a pig?" Gwen finished for him. Miles and Peni snickered loudly.

"The saying is eat like a horse, but yes." Ham amended, slightly offended. Noir looked at Ham and smiled at the banter. The glare of the dancing flames reflected off of his glasses— it was dark and his silver eyes could hardly be seen behind the yellow-orange flickering. After the conversations died down, his glasses sort of became a topic of interest for the spiders.

"Can I borrow your glasses?" Peni was the first to ask innocently, and soon it was a train of passing around Noir's glasses and the same reaction of "wow, that's really blurry" when they put them on, much to his annoyance. The thick lenses circulated to Miles and he slipped them on and fell into a dramatic pose.

"Wherever I go the wind follows– and the wind, it smells like _rain_." Miles paused to clench his fist on "rain", eliciting obvious snickers and snorts from everyone but Noir, who scowled. Miles continued. "I'm Spider-Man Noir. In my universe it’s 1933 and I’m a private eye. I like to drink egg creams and I like to fight Nazis. A lo—"

The teen's shoddy imitation was cut short by Noir snatching his glasses off of Miles' face. He put them back on and huffed as everyone howled with laughter, particularly Peter B, who shook so hard that his hotdog fell into the fire. He tried to go after the sausage, but it was too late, it was lost to the fire and turned charcoal black, emitting a burnt hotdog smell into the air.

"Serves ya' right." Noir grumbled, blushing furiously at the reminder of what he said when he first met them all. Peter threw his hands into the air. "How is this my fault?" he questioned, then turned back to his food in the fire. "My hotdog.." he mourned. The spiders fell into a comfortable silence as it disintegrated, as if mourning Peter's hotdog with him. The silence was punctuated by a sleepy yawn from Peni, followed by one from Gwen and Miles.

Ham checked the time. "It's almost 11:00." he said quietly and climbed into Gwen's lap. The distant noises of crickets and owls, and the rustling of leaves created a peaceful ambiance in the forest.

"Yeah.. If any of you kids want a shower before you go to bed, now's the time." Peter told the three teens. The kids groaned, but they did not want to be gross in the morning, so they got up and stretched, then headed to the tents to get their things.

"Brush your teeth!" Noir called after them, specifically Peni. She gave him a lazy thumbs up and scampered off.

The adults sighed and leaned back, watching the kids from their chairs. "I guess all that sugar took its toll." remarked Ham.

"That actually might be a good thing." Peter mused aloud thoughtfully, trying to imagine the hassle of getting all three teens to sleep.

Noir nodded with a hint of concern on his features. "Mm-hm. Peni for one needs the sleep. She's been pullin' too many all-nighters." he said.

"Miles is like that too. Sometimes I wake up to see him trying to text me at 4:00 AM or something ridiculous." told Peter.

"Same with Gwen." Ham added with a chuckle. The three elder spiders regarded each other with a knowing look, all reaching the same conclusion.

"Teenagers." they chorused flatly. Peter stood up and stretched, grunting when his back protested with a symphony of unpleasant popping.

"I'm going to bed. I'll put the fire out and just take a shower in the morning." he announced and rolled his shoulders. He bent over to pick up the bucket by the fire, which was filled up with water from the lake. Noir stood after him and eyed the complex that housed the bathrooms.

"I won't be takin' a shower tonight either. I'll watch to make sure the kids come back to our tents and don't go out on some late night adventure into the forest."

"Ditto." Ham added, hopping off of his seat.

"Thanks. Goodnight guys." Peter sloshed the water onto the fire. It extinguished with a crackling hiss.

"Goodnight." Noir returned, followed by Ham.

"Night."

(After they turned away yawning and entered their tents, Ham stepped in Peni's chewed-up marshmallow on the way to bed, having completely forgotten about it.)


	2. Day 2 (Saturday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploring, fishing, Uno, and scary stories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't at all expect this to take an eon. Two weeks is way too much, even for my slow ass. I apologize for the wait, but here it is. It may seem unrealistic at parts ¯\ _(ツ)_/¯, but I don't really care bc I'm just writing this for one person who I don't think minds the quirks. Still, I hope the rest of y'all enjoy! This is a kind of silly chapter. And some things are made up, not canon. I'm sorry if you don't like that. I apologize for any OOCness that may be in here (. . ;)

The melodious tunes of a harmonica carried through the campsite. Ham laid back on the soft patch of grass he chose and closed his eyes, enjoying the morning serenity.

"Shut up!!" Peter yelled from inside their shared tent. Seconds later he burst through the opening and cast a withering glare at Ham. He looked gruffer than usual and quite testy, having just woken up on the wrong side of bed in a sense. Miles emerged from the tent next, bleary-eyed and only half aware of what was going on. He slowly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked sleepily. He teetered on his feet and groaned as Ham opened one eye at the disturbance and continued to play his harmonica.

Noir followed shortly after Peter and Miles, and if looks could kill, Porker would be dead. He trudged his way over to him in the damp grass— no shoes on, just socks— and with his grey feet soaking wet, he stopped by the pig and growled, "_Do ya' mind?_"

Ham looked up at the black and white man. "What? This is music." he said casually, bringing the instrument back up to his mouth to play. Noir snatched the thing out of his hands and snapped it in two without warning. He ignored Ham's open-mouthed stare and observed the pieces in his hands.

"Mm-hm." he deadpanned. "This," he gave it back to the very offended cartoon, "Is _broken_." Finished, Noir promptly turned around and walked back into his tent, past Gwen and Peni, who had just woken up.

Peter raised his eyebrows and blinked in surprise. The sleepy spiders exchanged a look and shrugged. They started to mill about, not even bothering to go back to sleep now that they were awake. Ham sighed and threw his cheap broken harmonica away.

While the adults did their things to get ready in the morning, the spider-kids sluggishly ate breakfast consisting of cereal in foam bowls. Noir eventually woke up, but without a cup of coffee to start his day, he was distant and grouchy. He muttered something about taking a shower and left, leaving the three teens alone.

Miles dropped his cereal bowl in a campsite provided trashcan that was guarded by a number of angry bees. Reflexively turning invisible, he ran at full tilt away from the two that gave chase, hiding behind Gwen as soon as he reached her. Gwen yelped as the bees closed in and backed away with Miles attached to her like a leech. Peni couldn't help but laugh when they toppled over each other because Miles tripped on his untied shoelaces. His camouflage flickered out as he hit the ground and groaned.

As if satisfied with the teens' defeat, the bees flew back to the trashcan. Gwen stood up and angrily huffed. Miles, who had landed face down, was having a harder time getting up, but Gwen turned him over with a kick and planted her foot on Miles' chest.

"I'm not your body shield!" she yelled at him.

"Sorry!" wheezed Miles; his breath had been knocked out by her kick. Still flustered, the blonde reached down and yanked Miles up by the hood of his jacket. "And tie your stupid shoes." she hissed as an afterthought and let go. Miles wobbled on his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. Peni hopped down from where she was sitting and joined them, deciding to just leave her bowl instead of dealing with the bee-infested trashcan.

"So why do you never tie your shoes?" asked Peni conversationally. Miles rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's a choice." he answered.

Gwen scoffed. "It's not a very smart choice."

"Whatever." Miles grumbled, leaning down to tie his shoes. He stood up and looked the bathroom complex, then to the forest. "I'm bored. Do you guys wanna explore with me?" he asked as he brushed the dirt from his clothes and face off.

Gwen shrugged. "Sure."

"Alone?" queried Peni. She looked uncomfortable at the notion.

"Yeah. Why not?" Gwen said. Peni gave her a nervous glance. "Shouldn't we tell them where we're going first?"

Miles shook his head. "Nah. We'll just be gone for like 10 minutes. We don't need a babysitter for everything. Besides, they can check where we are."

"It'll be fine, Peni." Gwen reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"..Ok." Peni reluctantly agreed.

With that, the three younger spiders left the clearing that was their camp and entered the woods. It was rather hot and sticky despite it being morning, and mosquitoes took advantage of the warm bodies crossing through their territory. Squirrels ran across twisting branches and startled away birds. Shadows of circling vultures filtered through the canopy and onto the piney ground.

They were five minutes in when they became aware of a reeking stench. Peni was the first to see it and she gasped, a quiet "oh no" escaping her lips as she paused in front of the rotting corpse of a young doe. Crows with flesh hanging in their broad beaks took flight at the sight of the girl, but the flies paid no mind.

Miles stopped beside Peni on the left. He observed the carnage and the chunks bitten out by various creatures, and wormed through by maggots. The eyes were plucked out and swarmed by flies. Its ribcage was exposed and broken. Underneath them was a cavity where vital organs should have been.

There was only so much of the bloody mass he could stomach before he looked away.

"That's.." he started, and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Horrible." Gwen finished for him on Peni's right.

"Yeah." Peni said, backing up and turning away. She held her nose and winced; another breath of that smell and she was sure she'd throw up. Gwen turned away as well and noticed an imprint under Peni's foot.

"Wait. Look at what you're standing in." she said, trying to get a better look at it. Peni lifted her foot for Gwen, revealing a track way too big to be anything but that of a bear's.

"Is that a bear track?" Miles questioned in awe.

"Has to be." Gwen mused aloud, following a trail of them. Peni and Miles tailed the older teen to a small clearing in the woods. There, hidden behind unruly shrubs, was a hollow tree and a large, dug-out burrow with little tufts of fur scattered about its entrance.

"Wow, this is—" Gwen cut Peni off with a finger pressed to her lips. "Shh! Shh, listen. Do you guys hear that?" she whispered loudly. They heard crunching of leaves and grass beneath feet that were not their own.

"Crunching." Peni mused, scanning their surroundings nervously. An intimidating thing, covered in brown fur, peeked out from the trees around the clearing. The grizzly didn't seem to notice them.

"Oh my God." Miles cautiously pulled his phone out of his pocket. He swiped to the camera and turned his phone horizontally.

"Seriously?" said Gwen exasperatedly.

Miles ignored her and zoomed in as Peni hid behind him and Gwen. The bear moved out of sight, much to his frustration. Without thinking it through, Miles scrounged up a big limestone rock off of the ground and chucked it full force at a tree. He didn't miss his target, and succeeded in getting the attention of the bear as Gwen and Peni yelled at him for being stupid, but he also gained the attention of a massive swarm of pissed bees that just so happened to inhabit that tree.

"What the hell Miles! Why would you do that!?" Gwen screamed at him; Miles snapped the picture quickly and shoved his phone in his pocket before she could snatch it away. While they argued, or rather while Gwen yelled at Miles, Peni noticed the much bigger problem approaching: the charging bear and the bees buzzing towards them like little insect bullets.

"Um, guys? Run!!" she yelled at them, turning on her heel and making a break for it. Miles and Gwen took one glance at the bees and the bear and let out a stream of profanities that the adult spiders would not approve of. They bolted, catching up to Peni, who was not as fast a runner as them and was falling behind. Miles grabbed Peni's arm and hoisted her up onto his back. Wishing they had the foresight to bring their webshooters with them, they ran like the devil was hot on their heels all the way back to camp.

***

"They're in the forest." Peter relayed to Ham and Noir. He lowered the transporter and rubbed a hand over his face. It was too early and he was too tired for this.

"Can we teleport to them?" Ham asked while fiddling with his own device. Peter gave a negative hum.

"No, Peni said these things don't work with that small of a distance. It's like when you're talking with someone on a phone too close, there's feedback and the signal gets garbled." he explained the best he could.

"Damn." cursed Noir, looking to the forest with concern.

An unexpected shrill alarm raised on their transporters, startling them and sending their hearts down to their stomachs. The unsettling sound belonged to an alarm Peni created to signal when one of them was in danger, and the adults, used to hearing the sound when the kids were in dire situations, started to panic. They didn't know what was in the woods that could spook them so bad that their adrenaline levels and heart rate would spike.

Peter ran to the edge of the clearing and eyed the readings on his device. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "They're running back to camp!" he called to Ham and Noir.

"What could they be running from?" Ham wondered aloud. Peter put his guard up and tensed. "We're about to find out."

Noir cocked his gun and held it by his side, leaning against a tree and looking over his shoulder. Distant yelling grew closer; it was undoubtedly the voices of Miles, Gwen, and Peni. Once they came into view, the older spiders gaped when they saw what they were running from: an swarm of vengeful bees and an enormous grizzly bear.

Speechless, they jumped out of the way as the teens whizzed past them and leaped into the lake. Noir was the first to react and fired a round off to graze the bear's hide. His intention was to drive it away, but the bear saw red and came for him, Peter, and Ham.

Noir leaped to the side and socked the beast in the snout. The bear roared in pain and immediately backed off, not ready to throw down with this strange grey human that just punched its nose. Peter and Ham decided to not even question what had just happened and ran to the lake's edge.

The bees were still hovering above the surface of the water, but eventually gave up and flew off. As soon as the insects were gone, the three teens burst up to the surface and sucked in desperate breaths of air. Gwen and Peni pushed their soaking wet hair out of their eyes. Miles was shivering so hard that his teeth were clacking uncontrollably. They were all shivering and sopping wet and looked so pathetic and miserable that it warranted pity. They swam to shore, heavy clothes weighing down on them. Peter and Ham helped Miles and Gwen out of the water. Noir scooped Peni up and held her against his chest. Enveloped in his warmth, she tried to stop shaking to no avail.

Peter, Noir, and Ham all exchanged looks and took the freezing children to their tents.

Half an hour later, once they were dry and in fresh clothes and no longer shivering like they had stage one hypothermia, the gaggle of teens were grouped into one tent.

"This is your fault, Miles." Gwen whispered accusingly to the new Spider-Man. Miles threw his hands into the air, about to shoot something rude back when Peni shoved them apart. "It's both of your faults!" she told them angrily. "I knew this was a bad idea and you guys didn't care!"

"You came with us!" Gwen hissed back at her. Peni crossed her arms. "You both told me we'd be gone for 10 minutes. We were gone for 30!" She turned to Miles and glared. "And you threw that rock—"

"I'm sorry, okay? That was dumb." Miles cut her off, not wanting to be reminded of his hasty decision.

"Super dumb." Gwen muttered, messing around nervously with a string on Peter's sleeping bag. They all sat in silence for a beat. Peni wrapped her arms around her body further, hugging herself.

"Now we're gonna get lectured. I hate it when I get in trouble." she said quietly. Gwen and Miles nodded. They could hear footsteps outside approaching the tent.

"They're coming." Miles announced to where only Gwen and Peni could hear him. Right after he said that, B stepped into the tent, then Ham, and finally Noir.

"What's up?" Miles greeted awkwardly. He immediately shut up and diverted his gaze to the floor after recieving a harsh glare from Peter.

"Why didn't you tell us where you were going?" he asked, crossing his arms. The kids all tried to answer at once and Peter shut them down with a hand. "One at a time."

Miles shrugged. "I didn't feel like we needed to tell you. We can take care of ourselves." he sheepishly told him, but behind his answer was stubborn teenage independence. Peter kneeled down in front of the three.

"I know that, and generally I wouldn't care but we're in the middle of a forest." he told Miles gently. Then, a bit sterner he added, "Plus, you didn't exactly prove that you can take care of yourself because somehow you ended up being chased by a bear and a swarm of bees."

Noir shifted his weight to one side and fixed Miles, Gwen, and Peni with a look. "Ya' wanna tell us how that happened?" he questioned.

"Miles wanted a picture of the bear and threw a rock at a tree to get its attention, but the tree had a beehive in it." Gwen explained, glaring daggers at Miles.

Noir's eyebrows flew to his hairline. Peter and Ham had similar reactions. "Why, pray tell, did ya' throw a rock to get the bear's attention?"

"I wasn't thinking." Miles answered, feeling quite embarrassed.

"That seems to be a trend among you kids." Ham remarked. Peni huffed and clenched her fists.

"Hey! I didn't do anything!" she protested against his statement. She pointed at Miles and Gwen. "They persuaded me to come with them!"

They both winced, then glowered at her for revealing that bit of information.

"That true?" Noir asked, turning on Gwen and Miles. "You're throwing us under the bus.." Miles grumbled under his breath to Peni. She stuck her tongue out at him and answered Noir.

"It is."

Peter nodded. "Alright then. Peni, you're confined to this tent until noon and I'm taking away your candy for the day." he decided.

"What?" Peni squeaked.

"I wasn't finished. Miles and Gwen, I'm taking your phones for the rest of the weekend and you're also stuck here till noon." Peter told the other two, eliciting whines and protests from them.

"Nooooo! How am I supposed to listen to my music?" Miles cried sorrowfully.

"You're not. That's kinda the point." Ham answered flatly.

"Phones." Peter commanded, putting out a hand. Begrudgingly Miles and Gwen passed them over and watched sadly as Peter pocketed them.

"This sucks." the blonde complained and fell back on Peter's sleeping bag. She looked like she was ready to die.  
Noir rolled his eyes. "You should'a thought of the repercussions before you went exploring. You put yourselves in danger, especially Peni."

Peni whipped her head around to look at him with a hurt expression. "What do you mean "especially Peni"?" she asked quietly. Noir cursed himself for pointing that out. He'd said too much.

"You can't run as fast, and you don't—" he struggled to answer the girl, but she didn't want to hear it.

"Don't what? Have super strength?" she said with a scoff.

"Peni.."

"I can take care of myself." Peni declared hotly and stood up. Noir narrowed his eyes at her, placing his scarred hands on her shoulders. "I'm just tellin' it how it is." he told her in a low tone. Peni calmed down and looked away. "I know." she said, barely audible. Noir pulled her into a hug. Peter reached over to place a hand on her head.

"Don't think less of yourself just because you're not like us. You're the reason we're all here." Peter reassured her. She bit her lip and nodded.

"Yeah." Gwen joined in. "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to see each other again."

"You'll never see me re-wiring a mainframe while being shot at." Miles added. "Or me making goobers to save the multi-verse." Ham said.

Peni smiled weakly. "Thanks guys." Noir pulled away and held her at arm's length. "It doesn't matter that you're different, doll. You're family."

That made her beam and she sat down with a shrug. "I can do without my candy for a day. Probably better for me anyway."

"Oh really?" Noir's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Easy for you to say. I can't live without my phone for an hour." Miles grouched at her, still salty that she threw him and Gwen under the bus.

"Sorry bud." Peter said. There was no hint of sympathy in his voice as he smiled at the 13-year-old.

"You're all cruel." Gwen grumbled. Ham laughed at that and left the tent. "Mm-hm." Noir hummed. Peter waved as they both exited, calling behind him, "Have fun for the next three hours!"

"Shut up!" Miles called back, starfishing out with his face pressed against the tent floor. Gwen laid down next to him and Peni. "We might as well just sleep." she said. Peni snuggled against Gwen and sighed. "Yeah."

Miles mumbled something in agreement and closed his eyes. He didn't remember drifting into sleep.

***

"Look at 'em." Noir cooed, (though he would deny ever doing so). The kids were snuggled together and sleeping peacefully.

"Let's scare them." suggested Ham evilly. Peter liked that idea and jumped into the tent. He screamed and startled them all awake. They scrambled over each other to get up, gasping and yelling in their panic while he cackled. Once they got over their initial panic and slowly realized what had just happened, they started throwing anything they could get their hands on at Peter. The eldest Spider-Man retreated once he got hit square in the face with a shoe. "Ok, ok! Ow."

After the kids recovered from their rude awakening, they were let out of the tent and led to the lake. Fishing poles and a tackle box were already set out on the creaky wooden pier that went about 25 feet out from the shore. Peni observed the sharp hooks and frowned. "Oh! This type of fishing is archaic. It's so mean." she said, shaking her head in disapproval.

Peter rolled his eyes. "So how do you fish in your universe? Do you have robotic fishing poles that find the fish for you?" he joked.

"No, it's not that different. We use small electric clamps instead of hooks. When a fish bites down, the clamp activates and works like a hook, but doesn't hurt the fish." corrected Peni.

"Huh. That's pretty neat." Gwen murmured while untangling a knot in one of the lines.

Peter and Noir taught them the ropes: how to cast, reel, hook a worm, et cetera. Ham watched since there was no fishing in his world. Go figure. He howled in laughter when Peter tried to show the kids how to properly cast and ended up getting his line caught in a tree. "Don't listen to Peter. He once got two hooks in his finger because he tried to get the first hook out with the second hook." Miles said with a smirk.

"I WAS TEN."

"Watch this fellas." Noir cast his line. It flew far and straight, landing centered in the water with a muted plop. Peter slouched in defeat while the kids clapped. Noir gave him a smug pat on the back. Peter waved him off and huffed, then climbed to the tree his line was caught on, and nearly got hit by Gwen's line whizzing by him.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled at her from the tree.

"At least my aim's better than yours!" Gwen called back. Peter scowled and climbed down. Miles and Peni cast theirs after Gwen easily and sat down on the edge of the pier and waited. Peter recast his line with success the second time around and sat with them.

...An hour passed. Peni thought she saw her bobber go under and started reeling, only to, once again, come up empty.

"This is so boring." Miles complained for what might have been the 50th time. Ham hummed in agreement. "Patience." reminded Noir, but he looked rather bored himself. They were all sitting down now, swinging their legs back and forth on the edge of the worn wood, making it creak and groan. Peni rested her cheek on a fist with her elbow propped on one knee. She sighed dejectedly.

"Can I leave?" she asked in the same impatient tone one would ask "are we there yet?". Her hopes were dashed as Peter shook his head. "No, it's only been an hour." he told her and smacked his neck. "Darn mosquitoes."

"_I got something!!_" Gwen suddenly exclaimed. She lurched forward and Noir had to reach and yank her back so she wouldn't fall off of the pier and into the water. Everyone looked out over the lake to see Gwen's line having a fight with something big. A largemouth bass jumped out and soared over the water, landing back in with a splash.

"Woah!" Miles stood up, pumping his fist into the air. 

"Pull. Pull!" B shouted. Gwen did as instructed and pulled, but something, maybe a rock near the shallows or a sunken log, snagged her line. She yanked at it and bordered on using a miniscule amount of her spider-strength. The line pulled dangerously taut at the unnaturally powerful force, but thankfully did not break. She wobbled, hoping to God the fish hadn't gotten away. She saw it was still there and thrashing furiously.

"Steady on your feet." reminded Noir.

"I believe in you Gwen! Catch that sucker!" Ham cheered her on. Yet the fish had other plans and broke free right before Gwen could reel it back.

Peni fell to her knees. "No!!"

Gwen threw her pole to the ground in frustration and defeat. "Aw what?! This is such bullsh— Ow!" She turned to glare at Peter, who had flicked her ear before she could finish swearing.

Meanwhile, Ham unexpectedly ran and jumped, soaring over the lake with no regard to his soon to be wet clothes.

"You're not getting away that easily!"

"Ham what—"

The spiders flinched as Ham's splash misted them and dampened their legs. The pig swam after the fish, rapidly catching up to it.

"Come here you slimy S.O.B., you're not leaving until Gwen gets to hold you!"

He snatched at the fish— it was nearly out of his reach and tried out of desperation to escape into deeper depths, but with one last kick of his legs Ham secured his grip. Gwen watched the turmoil underwater in utter disbelief. She gawked when Ham resurfaced with the squirming fish in hand.

"Gotcha."

Absolutely drenched and dripping all over the place, Porker climbed back onto the pier and casually handed her the bass like it was nothing. Gwen struggled to grasp its slippery body. "Here you go, kid." he said between light panting. They stood there, still stunned, as Ham pulled out a Polaroid from his back pocket. Gwen smiled in confusion and he snapped a picture.

"You just had that in your pocket?" questioned Miles as he came out of his stupor. Ham gave him an odd look. "Who doesn't have a Polaroid in their pocket?"

"Nevermind."

Noir chuckled. "I think that's enough fishin' for today." Peter agreed, and Miles and Peni had no desire to continue either. Gwen let the largemouth slide out of her fingers and back into the lake. It was out of sight in an instant, swimming to safer waters.

Ham observed his sopping clothes and shrugged. "Wanna go swimming?"

Before anyone could answer there was a distant dragged out thunder. Peter looked up and saw the state of the sky: partially clear to the east, and to the west— ominous and angry storm clouds.

Disappointed, he tsked.  
"Probably not a good idea... I thought it wouldn't rain this weekend."

"Aww! Rain ruins everything." whined Peni. She silently cursed the sky with an angry pout directed towards it. Peter empathized with the girl, but there was nothing he could do to change the weather.

"You technically already went swimming this morning." he bluntly pointed out. Miles, Gwen and Peni blushed at the reminder. "C'mon, let's get in the tents."

"Do ya' think we should move them?" Noir asked, surveying the closeness of the lake and the two tents. Peter gave him a sideways glance and hummed.

"We might have to."

***

Sheet lightning illuminated the dark sky a blinding white. Even through the tent, the spiders could see the flash. Noir hugged the girls to him a little tighter. Peter rested his hand on Miles' head. Torrential rain mercilessly fell onto the tent that they had all grouped in. As loud as that was, it was no rival to the crackling thunder that followed. Peni flinched. Ham glanced at her, moving to snuggle closer to her side. She smiled softly and reached down to stroke his ears.

They waited out the storm silently, only speaking quietly on occasions, usually when huddling closer together. Despite the weather it was peaceful in the tent. Crowded, but warm. When the storm finally did end, no one was in the mood to leave until Gwen's stomach growled.

She held a hand to her stomach. "Sorry." she said sheepishly.

"I'm hungry too." Miles admitted. Noir looked to Peter. "It's past 3:00. We should eat."

"I agree." Peter said, tapping at his transporter. "I'll be back." He disappeared in a warp of light.

Miles moved closer to the rest of the group to regain lost warmth. Peni ignored them all, snuggling closer to Noir's chest. She did not have a problem with the idea of taking another nap, as comfortable as she was. Gwen mumbled something about needing to pee and broke free of the cuddle pile to exit the tent. Peter reappeared a few minutes later with a package of paper plates and a bag of bread in one hand, and a cooler in the other. Since it rained and the firewood they had just collected on Friday was definitely soaked by now, they couldn't really cook anything, so he decided on bringing sandwich supplies.

He set out containers of turkey breast, chicken breast, and roast beef. Under the deli meats was the provolone and cheddar cheese, plus the peanut butter and jelly. Miles took the cheeses out and opened their packages and set them by the bread. Ham reached into the cooler to grab the PB & J as Gwen returned. She joined them and passed out paper plates. They made their sandwiches, passing around mustard, mayonnaise, and such.

When they finished eating, the tent was a mess of crumbs— especially around Peni. She had a crumb circle of sorts surrounding her, and was completely oblivious to the fact.

"You're makin' a mess, doll." Noir lightly chided. She looked down and paused in her chewing as she saw that there was indeed quite the mess around her. "Oh." she said, suprised. "I'll clean it up."

Gwen joined her with some napkins in hand. "I'll help." she offered.

"Thanks."

"Hurry up so we can play Uno." Miles said, shuffling the Uno deck he brought.

"Shut up." Peni shot back, turning to glare at him and throw her plate at his face like a frizbee. Miles narrowly dodged and Peter, who was behind him, caught the plate.

"Uno?" echoed Noir.

"It's fun. I'll teach you how to play." Miles told him.

Peter quirked an eyebrow and stood up with his and Peni's plate. "What makes you think you're excused from cleaning up, bud? Go help." he said with a jerk of his head in the direction of the others, who were all pitching in. Gwen and Peni paused in their work to smirk at Miles. He pouted but slowly got up to help clean with them.

There was the matter of the bees inhabiting the trashcan, but Noir bravely volunteered to take their plates and drinks to the trash. The bees gave chase of course— the sight of the tall, dark gumshoe sprinting away from tiny insects was enough to make the kids, Peter and Ham double over in laughter, until the bees turned on them. They dashed back into the tent and zipped it up hurriedly, but they accidentally left Ham stranded outside in the process.

"Thanks a lot, guys."

Ham nursed a bee sting on his snout with melting ice from the cooler while Peter played a red reverse card. Miles groaned loudly. He threw a glare Peter's way; they were neck and neck again and tensions were high, and Miles wasn't too keen on breaking his win streak. As for Peter, well he just wanted to win.

"Sorry." Peni apologized to Ham without looking at him. She slapped down a red 9.

"Your turn."

Ham's poker face melted off. He grinned wickedly, slamming down a wild card. "Yellooow." he sang.

"Ham.." Noir voiced almost pleadingly. He started drawing, and drawing, getting more frustrated by the second until the darned yellow turned up and he played it with an annoyed huff. By this point, he was losing so bad that it looked like he had an entire deck in his hands, and the cards were slipping out of his grey fingers because it was too much to hold. Gwen snickered at Noir as she set down a blue 7, changing the color much to Miles' delight.

"Uno!"

Sounds of distress overlapped in the tent. Gwen sharply inhaled at her mistake, cursing herself for allowing Miles to once again come out on top. She clenched her fist threateningly at the younger spider, but Miles just grinned at her with his arms raised in a placating gesture.

"Ok, that's it. Miles I swear if you win again I'll kill you." she growled.

"I second that." said Peni, raising her hand.

"Cool it." Peter deadpanned, laying down a blue plus two. Peni adopted a look of disbelief at the betrayal and pouted. Peter had to look away from the pain shining in her eyes, lest he feel guilty for what he had done.

Gwen rolled her eyes, taking note of the obvious frustration behind the man's attempted poker face.

"Take your own advice Peter, you look like you're about to explode. Are you okay?"

Peter didn't respond. Ham played, and Noir after him, then Gwen, who nervously changed the color to green. But no matter the color, Miles still would have won, for he dramatically and a little too excitedly slapped his last card, a wild card, on top of the deck and whooped.

"HA!" he shouted in triumph.

"NO! WHAT??"

Peter looked like he was about to burst a vessel. He threw down his deck, bringing his hands up to clutch at his face and run a hand through his hair.

"How?! How?!" he cried in despair. Gwen's hand twitched— the look on Miles' face as he shrugged was so smug that she had to resist the urge to slap him.

"I guess I'm just that good."

"You're just lucky." Peni grumbled and crossed her arms. Ham shook his fist at Miles. "I want a rematch!" he demanded.

"I'll just beat you again." crowed the 13-year-old. Outraged at his statement, the spider-people started arguing and yelling over each other, all except for Noir, who let his enormous stack of cards slip out of his hands and drop with a quiet smack on the tent floor, and sat there in silence with a perplexed expression on his scarred features.

"....I still don't understand this game."

***

The wood was still damp, but after sitting outside in direct sunlight for a few hours, it was adequate enough to start a fire. Noir pulled out a matchbox from his pocket and struck a match. The flame danced in the reflection of Noir's thick white lenses that obscured his eyes from the world.

"Can I try?" asked Miles. He reached out for the box in Noir's hand, but Noir shoved the matches back into his pocket with a negative shake of his head.

Miles rolled his eyes but didn't press. The match burned down dangerously close to Noir's fingers. He observed the small flame and the burning stick silently, feeling the familiar red hot pain as his skin burned and his nerves protested.

"..You good man?" Miles asked in concern. Noir turned his head to partially face the boy. He flicked the stubbed match into the firepit after a beat and watched the wood struggle to go up in flames.

"Yes." he answered with an unidentifiable mix of emotion, "Step back. You're too close to the fire."

Miles confusedly did as he was told and turned around, hearing the voices of the others approaching.

"Is that pizza?" he asked upon seeing the boxes in Peter's hands. Gwen had two-liter sodas in her arms: a bottle of Dr. Pepper and Coke. Ham and Peni were carrying unhealthy snacks like chips and sweets.

"Yup." Peter placed the boxes on his chair, "Start with two." he said, and then proceeded to hypocritically grab four pieces of supreme pizza.

"Dude, you just grabbed four." Gwen pointed out flatly.

"I payed." Peter responded through a mouthful of cheese. Miles playfully pushed him out of the way and lopped two pieces onto his plate.

"Yeah well I'm on a growth spurt and I need fuel." he said before taking a bite.

"Yeah, it's just a puberty thing. Right Miles?" teased Gwen. Peni giggled, reaching up to place a hand on Miles' shoulder.

"Hey." she drawled. Obviously she couldn't go as deep as Miles, and Miles couldn't even go that deep himself, so it was a rather poor and squeaky impersonation that had his cheeks burning in embarrassment. Gwen burst out laughing at his discomfort, almost sloshing her Dr. Pepper out of her cup.

"Shut up Gwanda." he muttered, averting his gaze to the grass.

Meanwhile, Ham climbed over Noir to get to the pizza first, earning something of a low growl from him. "Watch it pal." he warned.

Ham surveyed Noir and bit into the cheese pizza, chewing slowly. Noir narrowed his eyes. He pushed the pig off of him and took his pick of plain pepperoni and poured his drink.

"So what do you guys wanna do tonight?" Miles asked as he fell back into his lawn chair.

B shrugged. "I dunno."

"Ooh! How about we tell scary stories?" Peni suggested. No one seemed to object to the idea, so she beamed and volunteered to go first. She searched up a scary story on her phone.

"That's cheating." accused Gwen.

"Hush. Ok, I got one." Peni announced and cleared her throat to begin. "There was a man driving down a highway late at night. The street was dark and empty, and no one was taking that route at that time, so he was the only one on the road." she paused to look up at the gang. Pleased to see they were all listening intently, she continued.

"Since it was late, he was growing tired and was struggling to stay awake. He took a sharp turn and to his surprise saw a young girl in a glittering white dress in the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting her, but didn't do it in time and swore he heard and felt his car going over a lump."

There was a beat. The only sounds that could be heard was the crackling of the fire, their own breathing, and the chittering of nocturnal animals in the forest. Peni scrolled down.

"He stopped immediately and got out of his car, expecting a body, but instead he saw the girl alive and on the side of the road. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Hey kid, are you alright? Do you need a ride?" the man asked hesitantly. She silently nodded and he draped his jacket over her quivering frame, since it was very cold that night. "I need you to take me to my house. My parents must be so worried." she said quietly, just barely above a whisper."

"Oh I know this story." Gwen whispered to Miles.

"Shh." Peni shushed her.

She read on. "Something about her unnerved the man, but he nodded and started driving to the address that she gave him. She and the man made small talk as he drove her to her house, but suddenly she fell silent. He assumed she just stopped talking, yet a glance in his front mirror proved otherwise. She was gone. He checked and checked again, but she simply just disappeared. Freaked out by this, the man went home."

She took a breath, scrolling down on her phone again when a pop-up ad appeared and she groaned in annoyance, partially ruining the mood. They waited patiently for her to get back on track. "Sorry." she apologized, a little flustered. "Okay."

"A few days passed and it was even colder. He missed his jacket that he gave to the girl, and so he decided to take a chance and see if he could somehow get it back at the address he gave her. He walked up to the quaint little house and knocked on the door. An old woman came out. He explained what had happened and asked if he could get his jacket back from the young teen. Unexpectedly, the old woman broke down sobbing. She said she knew no girl, except for her daughter that was killed 20 years ago in a hit-and-run on a turn in the highway, right where he had picked her up just the last night."

Finished, Peni brought her futuristic phone up to her face and jokingly turned on the flashlight, illuminating her face red. The adults laughed while Miles and Gwen gawked.

"Your flashlight can do red?" asked Miles in bewilderment, reaching out to put his hand in the red beam. Peni tapped a few buttons and the colors fluctuated until they blended and changed in the order of a rainbow like a tacky nightlight.

"Yeah, it can do all colors. See?" she said. Gwen nodded and smiled, rubbing at her arm. "Man, that story isn't even that scary, but it still gives me chills."

"Yeah. That was pretty creepy." Miles agreed, munching on some Cheetos.

"Good job, doll. Ya' know how to tell a story." Noir complimented her. Peni grinned. "Thanks!"

"Who wants to go next?" Ham asked, setting his drink down. Peter shrugged and leaned forward, rubbing a hand over his stubble.

"I will." he volunteered.

"It was a Saturday. I don't remember exactly when it was— probably three or four in the morning— when I woke up to this loud tinkering noise in my apartment. There weren't any lights on, so I turned on a lamp. The tinkering stopped. I scanned the entire apartment and came up with nothing, except I had apparently left some sandwich stuff out, so I put that back in the fridge, chalked it up to my imagination and went back to sleep, right?"

The spider-gang nodded and Miles snorted, knowing where this was going. Peter rolled his eyes and shot the kid a pointed look, clearly exasperated by what he was about to tell them.

"But as soon as I was just starting to get back to sleep, I heard the noise again. This time I turned on the light immediately and caught a glimpse of someone in the kitchen. So I walk back in there and the sandwich stuff is out again! I heard footsteps to my left, but I didn't see anyone there, so I shot webbing at the source and _Miles_, with a sandwich in hand, becomes visible."

Gwen and Peni pretty much died laughing at the story. Ham and Noir were also busting gut as they imagined the sight of Miles freezing dead in his tracks and holding a sandwich.

"I was hungry! My mom forgot to go to the store that day and we had like, nothing to eat." the teen defended himself.

"It was 4:00 in the morning kid!" cried Peter.

"It was 3:00!"

"Big difference."

Still giggling, Gwen held her stomach and said in mirth, "Oh my God, that's priceless. Did that really happen?"

Peter nodded with a chuckle. "It's true." he answered. Ready to change the subject off of that particular tale, Miles cleared his throat. "So how about you tell us a scary story Gwen?"

She shook her head as everyone's attention fell on her. "Nah, I'll pass. I don't really have anything to tell." she said with a shrug. She kicked at the ground lightly. Particles of ash made a little cloud that floated around her feet.

"Don't be shy kid." encouraged Ham.

Gwen smiled. "It's fine. I just wanna hear your stories." she said. Peni and Miles pouted.

"Aww, Gwanda please?"

Gwen turned her head to Miles, smirking mischeviously. She relaxed in her chair and moved her hands up in a slow shrug. "Ok fine." she said casually. "I'll tell them the story of how I got my haircut."

Miles instantly voiced his opinion on that idea. "No! No it's okay, nevermind."

Noir raised an eyebrow. "That's a story I'd like to hear, if it embarrasses the probie."

Peni agreed whole-heartedly. "Spill!"

Miles looked at Gwen pleadingly, begging her with wide brown eyes not to tell them. She relented. She would spare him, for now.

"Another time."

Ham groaned. Peter slumped in his chair, making his (smaller than it used to be, at least) gut jut out as he slouched.

"Booo." he deadpanned. Gwen just smiled at him and Miles wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He had dodged a bullet there; if she had told them he'd probably never live it down and/or hear the end of it.

"I guess I'll go next. Mine's pretty short but it really creeped me out." began Miles. He wiped the Cheeto dust off of his fingers and leaned forward, hands clasped, staring straight into the flickering fire.

"A few months ago, when I just became Spider-Man and was going viral, I noticed something really weird on patrol. I thought I was being crazy, but I swore I kept hearing footsteps behind me. My spider-sense kept bothering me about it, but whatever it was kept enough distance to where I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. It was really creepy. I just had the feeling that something was wrong the entire time I was out. But eventually the footsteps stopped and I forgot about the whole thing until later when I was heading home. I went into a hidden alley to change my clothes, and I took my mask off— that's when my spider-sense went insane. The footsteps were back and just like 10-15 feet away from me. I wasn't facing their direction, but I could hear them breathing. For forever I couldn't even move until finally I put back on my mask and turned around."

Miles involuntarily shivered at the next part. "I asked the creep what they wanted, and a balding old man that gave off the creepiest pedophile vibe walked up to me and smiled. And then he pulled a notepad and a pen out of his jacket pocket and asked me for my _autograph_. I gave it to him and he thanked me and left."

"I never saw him again after that..." he concluded quietly. Just telling the story made the hairs on his neck raise. Gwen and Peni shuddered, recalling their own personal experiences with similar things.

"Wow." Ham said distantly.

Peter let out a low whistle. "That's freaky as hell. How did he even follow you?" he asked. He was bewildered and creeped out that someone had been stalking the kid, and felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him. Miles shook his head and looked back to the fire.

"I don't know. That's the part that scares me." he told them.

Noir's expression went dark. "If ya' ever see him again, tell me."

Miles chuckled. "Maybe I will."

"What about you Ham?"

Porker clicked his tongue and shrugged. "Well for starters, one of the scariest things I've ever seen is you guys eating meat for the first time, but I won't get into that." he said. The other spiders exchanged guilty looks with each other, but Ham laxly waved a hand at the matter.

"It is what it is, it doesn't bother me." he assured them. "But y'know what's scarier than that?"

"What?" Peni queried. The kids all looked at him with curious eyes.

He leaned forward, glancing left and right, and whispered behind his hand as if telling a big secret. "The way Peter eats."

"Ha-ha." Peter laughed dryly. "That joke's getting old."

Gwen giggled. "It's still funny." They all assented except for Peter.

"So who hasn't gone?" Peni asked. Noir looked at her, knowing that the answer was him, as he was the only one who hadn't gone yet and was relatively quiet throughout the whole ordeal. She bounced in her chair excitedly. "Join in, Noir! I bet you have plenty of scary stories."

Noir debated with himself for a moment. "I don't know what to tell, other than what's true from experience. Those stories aren't for children." he told her. She heard the seriousness in his tone, but she kept trying.

"Aww please? Please just one. I promise I won't get scared or creeped out." she begged.

"No." he said with finality.

"Please?"

"Spill." Gwen egged. Miles chimed in too, trying to force a story out of Noir by being annoying. Peter and Ham didn't join in, not exactly sure if it was a good idea. Finally Noir relented, mainly just to stop their pestering.

"Fine. I'll tell ya' one." he grumbled, rubbing at his temples. The kids cheered, but they really shouldn't have, and they knew this as Noir started in a detatched tone, the one he used whenever he tried to hide how he felt about something.

"Nearly a year ago, before I met you fellas," he gestured to them, "I followed a lead on a case that had been stone cold for years. Six broads had gone missin' on my street and I spent sleepless nights tryin' to track 'em down, but never found anything until the cops found the culprit dead five years later. The man had taken his own life and left a written confession with a cryptic map on the back of the paper. It was like some twisted treasure hunt."

Noir paused for a breath. "I spent days tryin' to decipher the map, and eventually I was led to an abandoned factory with vats overhead, where X marked the spot. It was damp and humid in there. Something was drippin' on my face from above, I assumed it was water and ignored it. There was an old restroom that I scoured on my search and I turned on a barely workin' lightbulb that hung from the ceiling, and when I saw myself in the mirror I realized that the stuff on my face wasn't water. It reeked of decay."

At the memory of that, his face scrunched up in disgust. The spiders silently watched in concern.

"I went back out and swung up to the vats. The metal that secured them was so rusted that when I came up the entire thing collasped and I fell with it. I was able to get out of the way in time, but got drenched from head to toe in liquid. Somethin' splashed against my leg and I turned my flashlight on." he explained. His hands began to shake. "I discovered the remains of at least 30 females, all drowned. The police identified the 6 missing dames, but they never identified the rest."

Rage crept into his voice as he clenched a fist. "Who knows where they came from or how the bastard got to them, but I hope he went to hell."

The spider-people sat in stunned silence for a few minutes. "Was that liquid.." Peni stopped. Noir set his eyes upon her and did not respond. She felt nauseated and sickened.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered.

"We shouldn't have asked." Guilt riddled Miles' voice. Gwen nodded with the same guilt. Peter sighed. He stood up to give Noir's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. The younger man silently appreciated the comforting gesture, but did not show it on the outside.

"Alright, I think that's enough for tonight." the eldest spider decided. He turned to Miles, Gwen and Peni. "Get ready for bed." he ordered. They started to whine, but he stopped them with a hand.

"Go."

As soon as they were gone, Ham moved to pat the black and white man on the back. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked full of worry.

"I'm fine." insisted Noir. He adjusted his glasses and tried to walk away from the situation, but Peter caught him by the arm. "You know you can talk to us, right? It doesn't have to be in front of the kids." he said seriously.

"I know."

Peter gave a single nod. "Right. After this trip I want you to come talk it out with us, ok? You need to get all this emotional baggage off of your chest."

Noir didn't meet his gaze. "I'll think about it." he said, and hesitated to say something more, but settled on a simple "thank you" and went to bed.

Peter and Ham wordlessly watched him enter his tent then cleaned up the mess and put out the fire, leaving the campsite in darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey AnimationNut, do you still check your PMs on ff.net? I'd like to ask you a private question if that's ok. Thanks for reading :)  
(If not, is there a way I can contact you? If you'd rather not give away that information, that's fine.) 
> 
> I'm sorry if this was cheesy & repetitive but for whatever reason that's always how my writing turns out. As for Noir's story, not true. I just wanted to come up with something to create angst. 
> 
> Please comment and kudos!! I always appreciate it!


	3. Last day (Sunday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiking and overly competitive games, some dangerous, some not. The spiders pack up and leave on the last day of their camping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LO AND BEHOLD I lied again. I set deadlines for myself but I always miss them, so sorry to the poor reader that I told this would be updated Wednesday. But here I am, it's been two months or so since I started the first chapter and here's the last one. Huge thanks to AnimationNut for the motivation and inspiration. Please check out her Spider-Verse fics, she just recently published a new one last week and it was wonderful. I hope y'all like this last chapter. You too AnimationNut. Thanks :)

"You can't turn invisible! That's cheating!" Gwen called out, her hands cupped around her mouth as she let her spider-sense lead her to where Miles was hiding. She was finally close enough to sense him behind the shrubs on the edge of the forest, but he ran, and the blonde spider spat out an irritated curse when she heard leaves crunching under his invisible feet. Peni sprinted after him, though her small legs could not carry her fast enough to catch up, and Miles disappeared, that is until Peter intervened and lunged at him, tackling him to the ground playfully. Peni and Gwen cheered in triumph while Miles groaned in defeat, becoming visible under Peter's arms that were pinning him down.

Peni hopped to his side excitedly and crouched down to his level. "Ha! Cheaters never win!" she proclaimed.

In response, Miles attempted to shove B off of him, but the man simply went limp and became a dead weight, still holding him to the dewy ground. Miles gave up, turning his mouth away from the grass so that his cheek rested on the damp blades. "Say that to my AP World homework." he said casually into the grass.

"Miles." Peter scolded lightly, but his slight smirk showed he didn't care all too much. He got off of Miles and dusted his red flannel shirt off. He wiped his hands on his jeans before turning to the girls.

"If you're done playing hide and seek, breakfast is ready."

Gwen cast a look of confusion at him. "What breakfast? We just have cereal and leftover pizza." she said. Peter chuckled.

"That's the joke. Go ahead and eat, we're about to go hiking."

Gwen and Peni started toward where Noir and Ham were already sitting. Miles heard him, but lay on the ground unmoving.

Peter paused and blinked. "Miles?"  
Gwen came to the eldest's side. She raised her eyebrows.

"You good dude?"

"I'm dead." responded Miles. He closed his eyes and rolled his face back into the grass. Peni gasped, pretending to closely observe something on the ground as she rounded him. A fake cry escaped her lips, causing Miles' eyes to shoot open.

"Miles you're laying in an ant pile!!" she yelled out, and the finger she used to point at where it allegedly was sold her mischevious prank.

Miles leaped up. "_What??_"

The three witnesses to the ridiculous panic that ensued doubled over and wheezed at the dance that Miles did to ensure there were no ants on him. Eventually he realized that the ant pile did not exist, and that there were no ants on him, and he stopped and shot a seething glare of hatred at Peni. She gave him a shit-eating grin in return.

"That's so not funny." he grumbled, crossing his arms. His cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"That's what you get for cheating." she told him cheekily. Gwen sniggered. Miles pitifully followed them to the campfire circle, where they sat down to eat a nutritious and wholesome breakfast: cold pizza and stale-ish cereal.

The trail was winding and coarse stone. It was hardly visible under the fallen leaves that crinkled under their steps. They hadn't hiked since their first day camping, and it was soothing to walk through the forest in company with the whole group. The sun was behind a cluster of clouds and there was an undercurrent of cool air that made the trek pleasant.

"It's really nice today."

"You can say that again."

"Yeah. Yesterday was so humid.. Too many mosquitoes." Peni recalled. She itched vigorously at the red spots on her arms. Noir set a hand on her and covered the spots she was itching at. She stopped itching with a pout.

"There are still too many for my likin'. Didn't you bring the bug spray?"

Peter dug around in his pocket, retrieving a small tube of mosquito repellent. "Here." he tossed it to Noir. He caught it with ease and spritzed his arms and legs a good amount and passed it around.

"Hey look. A rabbit." Miles mused mostly to himself. He stopped to observe the brownish-grey furred creature that warily hopped a few feet away. It twitched its nose and stood on its hind legs.

"Awww!" Peni gushed. Ham stepped in front of her. "Shh! You'll scare it. Let me speak to it."

"You can talk to rabbits??" Gwen asked incredulously.

Ham chortled with a wave of his hand. "Nah, I was pulling your leg. I can't talk to them outside of my universe."

Gwen's face fell flat. "Oh. That's lame."

"You're lame."

The hare hopped away into the brush, keeping its distance from the spiders. They continued up the stone path to a slope and slid down, ending up with a dusting of dirt on their pants.

"Ow." Miles clutched at his hand. "I got scraped." There was a small cut, deep enough to sting. His hand must've caught on a sharp rock on the slide down. Beads of blood started to rise out of the scrape. Peter took his hand. "Lemme see it."

Miles pulled his hand back from Peter with a scoff, wiping the dirt off of his cut on his jeans.

"Chill man. It'll heal in a minute."

"Ya' sure?" asked Noir.

Miles rolled his eyes. "Yes."

Gwen passed Miles, taking the lead. She laughed at their overbearing concern.

"It's just a scrape, you guys are overreacting—"

Ham webbed her back, cutting her off.

"Watch where you're going," he pointed to the cluster of evil plants that she almost walked straight through. "Poison ivy."

Gwen looked down at the three-leaf stemmed plants and raised her pierced eyebrows, blinking. "Oh."

Peni's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

Noir turned to see Peni mercilessly scratching at her red arms, more than before, and cringed, knowing what had happened.

"I think I walked through one of those earlier.." she confessed. "It got my arms."

Peter sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, don't scratch. You need to take a cold shower and change."

Peni scrunched up her nose and stopped scratching, shoving her hands into her pockets in an attempt to resist the urge. "I'm fine." she insisted with a smile. She walked on, but of course, Noir caught her by the shoulder. One look and she knew it was a lost cause.

"This sucks." she grumbled, teleporting back to the campsite. Noir went with her so she wouldn't be alone.

Ham shook his head. "Well great, we're two down."

The four remaining spiders crossed a clear stream by hopping on stones in the water. A shoal of minnows swam past. Peter and Ham cleared the creek, tailed by Gwen, and behind her, Miles. The rocks had a coating of algae that was dangerously slippery, threatening to throw them off balance and into the frothy water. Gwen made it gracefully and effortlessly. Miles on the other hand, slipped, and in a desperate attempt to regain his footing, he webbed at the trees. Instead it attached to Gwen and yanked her back.

"Hey!" she yelped, tumbling into the water with him. The splash soaked them thoroughly, leaving their hair and clothes dripping. Miles weakly laughed. He knew he was screwed the second he looked into her eyes through her drenched hair. Gwen furiously threw globs of algae at him, yelling at the younger spider.

"Sorry!!"

Peter and Ham watched blankly, not even making an effort to stop her. Miles scrambled out of the water to avoid Gwen's algae attack, taking refuge behind the eldest spider. Peter surveyed the two soaking wet and freezing teenagers and tiredly dragged a hand down his stubble.

"Let's just go back."

***

Noir finally moved his black piece. Gwen, Miles, and Peni, all still damp from showers, watched as he won.

"Checkmate." he drawled and smirked. Ham sat in disbelief for a second before slapping his hands over his eyes.

"NO!"

Peter held out his hand expectantly. "My money?" he reminded with a smile. Ham grumbled, digging out a ten dollar bill from his pocket.

"Thank you."

Peni perked up. "That reminds me." she said seriously. She shot her hand out in front of the adults, making an eager grabbing motion. "I want my candy back." she demanded.

"Sorry, I ate all of it." Ham confessed and shrugged. Peni glared at him.

"Liar." she accused, emphasizing her grabbing. "Gimme."

Noir smiled. "Alright doll, hold on." He took it out of its hiding spot in Peter's duffel bag and she snatched it out of his hands greedily. She dug around, loudly rustling the plastic bag, and picked a box of pink Nerds, then started to pour them into her mouth like there was no tomorrow. Miles reached over Gwen to get in on the loot, but was denied harshly. Peni slapped his hand away. Gwen tried as well, recieving the same result.

"Sharing is caring." preached Miles. He almost got away with a piece of chocolate on his second try, but she nabbed it out of his fingers.

"I don't care. Get your own." she told him coldly. There were Nerds stuck to her hand as she pointed at him. Gwen huffed and crossed her arms.

"Someone's greedy."

Peni stuck her tongue out at the older girl. She was in no mood to share after they were the reason it was taken away in the first place. Desolate, Miles fell back on his sleeping bag. "Ugh." He glanced at Peter. "Can I please have my phone back?"

"No." was Peter's immediate response.

"What should we play next?" inquired Peni. She sifted through games, observing them with curiousity.

"Please, no more chess." Miles groaned.

Gwen snorted. "Cards Against Humanity." she suggested quietly. Miles and Peni snickered. Ham and B shot a look at them.

"Not happening."

"Boo." Miles deadpanned, dropping his head back onto his pillow.

"Um, Monopoly?"

"No."

"You're no fun."

Peter shrugged. "Monopoly is notorious for ripping families apart." he provided; a lame excuse. Ham scoffed.

"That's an overexaggeration. Besides, that's what makes it fun."

Everyone turned to give Ham a quizzical look.

"It takes hours." Gwen added on. Thankful, Peter nodded in agreement. Peni was at the bottom of the pile now, and picked up the last game, presenting its cover.

"What about Pictionary?"

Ham grinned, taking the box from her. "That's a gem." he said.

"All in favor of Pictionary?" Peni announced, raising her hand first. Everyone raised their hands except for Noir, who scanned the box with interest.

"What do you think, Noir?"

Noir hummed an 'I don't know' and set the game down. "I'm not familiar with any of the games you're talkin' about." he told them.

Peni beamed at him, hugging his side. "Right. That's okay, you can be my partner! I'll teach you." she offered. He accepted and the spiders all paired into twos.

Peni and Noir's yellow piece, Miles and Peter's blue piece, and Gwen and Ham's red piece sat on the starting "All Play" square as they passed around the first card to the spiders that were drawing. Peni explained the basic rules of the game to Noir while Gwen and Miles read the given prompt. Miles gave the card to Noir.

"Which one?" he asked, flipping the card around. The spiders that were guessing looked away.

"Stop flipping it around."

"It's all play. AP."

Noir found it through the dirty lenses of his glasses. "Oh. Elephant?"

"You're not supposed to say it out loud!"

"It's his first time! Stop being mean." Peni scolded Miles. He drew back at her scowl, raising his hands to placate her. "I'll draw another card."

Noir took and read the second card, this time not reading the prompt aloud.

"Ok. Got it?" Gwen asked. He nodded and picked up his pencil. They raised their notepads and Peter flipped the hourglass.

"Go."

Noir, Gwen, and Miles started drawing Abraham Lincoln rapidly while Peter, Ham, and Peni wildly guessed.

"Hat?"

"Face!"

"Beard guy."

"Clown!" Ham blurted out.

"CLOWN?!" Gwen choked, pausing in the game to mull over the desire to stab the pig with her pencil. In Ham's defense, Gwen wasn't very good at drawing. And it did look like a clown.

"Sorry!!" he cried, "Don't stop drawing!"

Peter loudly slammed his hand down on the tent floor. "Abraham Lincoln!!" he almost screamed, drowning out all other sounds in the tent. Probably also disturbing a few animals outside. Miles whooped and dropped his pencil as if it were a microphone. "Yes!"

Gwen stopped drawing. She was crestfallen. "Aw man.." she whined, "This isn't fair. Miles is too good to be allowed to play this game."

Peter shrugged. "He's also a horrible guesser, so it balances out."

"You can't draw!" defended Miles. Peter scoffed, pretending to be offended. Noir chuckled and continued sketching out his Abraham Lincoln while Peni crawled over to Gwen. She suppressed a giggle behind her hand.

"Hey, that kinda does look like a clown." she commented. Gwen's eye twitched. Noir leaned over. "It does." he agreed.

"Shut up." the blonde spider growled, but she was giggling herself. She snatched Noir's paper. "Let's see yours."

Gwen gaped in surprise at how realistic, despite sketchy and messy, the drawing was. "How are you so good??"

The rest of the spiders gathered round.

"I occasionally do facial composites for my clients." Noir answered. Miles raised an eyebrow. "What are those?" he asked.

"Suspect sketches." Peter provided, taking the pencil from the kid as he flipped to a fresh page. Miles grinned excitedly.

"Cool, I thought I was alone in my talent."

The eldest spider smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet." he joked.

"Shut up Peter."

Miles rolled the die, and he and Peter moved up by five squares, landing on A: Action. The new prompt was "sleeping". Peni flipped the hourglass and joined in the frantic doodling. She started off drawing her person laying down before she drew a bed or pillow.

"Dying." said darkly and seriously, was the first guess by Noir. Peni snapped her head up.

"_What? No!_" she spluttered, even though one of the rules was no talking. She drew a sloppy bed around her crude stick figure, trying to aid her black and white partner.

"Box? Two boxes?" Miles guessed. Peter slumped. His lackluster art skills combined with Miles' likewise guessing was a recipe for failure. As he sketched his stick person, Gwen was getting closer.

"Bed, pillow— OH!"

Noir and Gwen realized it at the same time. "Sleeping!" they shouted in unison, then, surprised, they turned to competitively glare at each other.

"I said it first!" Gwen claimed. Noir sharply shook his head. "No, I did."

"He said it first!" Peni defended him. Ham entered the fray. "Gwen said it first!"

Peter and Miles witnessed the heated argument that erupted helplessly. Finally fed up, Peter yelled, "Rock, paper, scissors!"

The arguing spiders froze. They processed what Peter said and calmed down, ceasing their bickering. Gwen clenched her right fist, placing it on her flat left hand. Determination set in Noir's jaw. He did the same.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot." they chanted. Gwen went with paper. Noir chose scissors. It took a few seconds of passing denial for Gwen to flutter her eyelids shut and let out a pitiful, defeated sigh.

"Two out of three?" she pleaded. Noir's response was cold. "No."

No one disagreed with that except for Ham, but majority rules. Gwen groaned, and Peni gleefully rolled a six, taking the lead. They switched drawers. Each round was more tense and competitive, with Noir, Peni, Peter and Miles tied for first for nearly the whole game. Ham and Gwen won a couple rounds, but kept rolling between one and three. Ham deemed the die cursed, so halfway through the game they switched die, but that didn't put an end to their bad luck. Being so far behind, they had no chance of winning. They were just playing for fun.

Among the four currently winning, tensions were high. They had to sift through the cards, setting aside prompts such as "Neil Armstrong"— as Noir would not know them— before finding the last prompt: "Dragon". Peter tensed. Miles flipped the hourglass.

Noir and Peni won. It was hardly a contest. Miles curled up, uttering, "Why didn't you just draw a dinosaur with wings on it?"

Peter scowled at Miles. "Maybe you should've tried motivating me instead of trashing my art. You said yourself I can't draw anything beyond a stick figure." he grumbled. "What did you expect?"

"That's because it's true." Miles retorted. "I expected you to suck."

Peter was about to shoot something back when Peni interrupted him cheerfully. She held up the disorganized deck of UNO from Saturday.

"Anyone wanna play Uno?" she asked. The others snapped their dark eyes to her.

"_No._"

Peni shrank back, putting it away. "Nevermind."

Right. Maybe they had played enough games for one day.

***

None of the kids wanted to swim. Like cats they looked at the lake with disgust, not for the reason that it was unclean, but because they had already taken showers, and had multiple unplanned experiences of ending up sopping wet and shivering. Peter determinedly hauled a struggling Miles to the lake, threatening to drop him in. Miles caved, flailing his arms around. "Okay! I'll swim!" he promised. Satisfied, Peter happily relented and the teen scrambled off to change. Peni removed her yellow flip-flops and tested the water with her toes. It was tepid, but a little more on the warm side.

"Is it warm?" she asked Ham, who was floating on the water, for comfirmation. The spider-pig opened one eye and gave a thumbs up.

She smiled. "I guess I'll swim too."

Gwen glanced at her passing to change and crossed her arms. "I'm not swimming." she stated flatly. With a mischevious glint in his eye, Peter ran up behind her and scooped her up into his arms and held her in the air, carrying her to the lake's edge.

"Hey! Peter, no—" she squawked. She twisted and kicked in his grip. "Let me go!"

Peter grunted and winced. One of her kicks landed a bit too close to home. Having a sense of self-preservation, he gave up and dropped her.

"Okay, okay." he said, right as Peni in a black swimsuit and skirt sprinted past him and cannon-balled into the water where Noir and Ham were swimming, causing Ham, who was still floating, to go under. Noir had to blindly fish his glasses out of the water. Peter slicked his hair back and blinked in surprise. Gwen was in front of him, meaning she got the brunt of the splash, leaving her, once again, soaked.

"Really?" she growled through her blonde curtain of wet hair. Peni managed a guilty smile. "I'm really sorry.. I didn't see you there." she apologized meekly.

Gwen huffed in exasperation and trudged her dripping self to her tent to get her swimsuit. Miles walked out past her in swim trunks. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, stifling a snicker. She shot him a threatening look. He smirked and joined the others in the lake. Peni initiated a splashing fight that erupted into a full-on war between the spiders. Noir snuck behind Peni and yanked her out of the water, causing her to yelp and giggle gleefully. Grinning, he set her on his shoulders.

Ham gasped. "Chicken fight!"

Peter hoisted Miles onto his shoulders without warning, and Ham climbed on Miles' shoulders. Noir backed up. "Wait—"

Peter rammed into him while Miles and Ham tried to pry Peni off of his shoulders with outstretched arms. But the youngest spider wouldn't lose so easily, dodging Ham and going for Miles' feet. With a great amount of force, she pushed them up, almost knocking both of them into the water. Miles' hands shot to Peter's neck for support, nearly choking the eldest spider. Ham teetered.

"Bud, you're choking me..!" Miles released Peter's neck immediately upon hearing his strangled voice. Noir used this opportunity to charge at them. Peni pushed Miles, knocking him and Ham into the water. B rubbed at his neck sullenly while Noir and Peni celebrated their victory.

"What are you guys doing?"

Gwen walked to the gang in a blue and white one piece. She shifted her weight to the left, placing a hand on her hip.

"Chicken fighting." answered Noir. Miles and Ham bobbed up and groaned. Peni giggled. She pointed to them, declaring, "They lost."

Gwen laughed behind her hand at the pitiful state Peter's team was in after their defeat.

"Shut up."

"I'm in." Gwen took careful testing steps into the lake. She shivered at first, retracting her feet.

"I thought you said it was warm!"

"You'll get used to it."

Miles grabbed her arm and tugged her in. Gwen tripped, falling in face first and submerging. She burst to the surface with a gasp and shivered for a moment. The water slowly became warm as her body adjusted. Flustered, she splashed water in Miles' face. He spat in disgust. "Ew! It got in my mouth!"

She pushed him out of the way and gripped onto Peter's shoulders. He wobbled when she pulled herself up and swung her legs over him. Peter held her in place by her knees. She lifted Ham out of the water and placed him on her shoulders.

Miles was deemed the referee. Like an old western standoff, Noir and Peter circled each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Gwen's fingers itched with anticipation. Peni narrowed her eyes. Ham bent two fingers, gesturing for them to bring it on. Noir moved first and Peter reacted. Gwen, Ham, and Peni came at each other with flailing arms and yanking hands. Miles had to pay attention in order to dodge them. Their stumbling movements through the splashing water were unpredictable, wobbly, and extremely competitive— a recipe for disaster. Gwen finally managed to obtain hold of Peni's right leg; she pushed it off to the side, sliding her partially off of Noir. The dark spider immediately regained his grip on her. Gwen smirked devilishly before sloshing water on his glasses, distracting him for a second, just long enough for Peni to be torn off and chucked into the lake. She gasped as she hit the water, plummeting under.

It felt like something pierced her back and went clean through out her side, like a bullet. The pain came in a sudden, razor sharp jolt when she collided with the rock, and instantly afterward came the pounding in her head, then the surreal feeling of being weightless as a feather. She stayed frozen for a moment in the water and dizzily tried to process what happened. When she came up for air, more on instinct than on her own accord, the other spiders immediately knew something was wrong.

"Peni? Peni what happened?"

Tears sprung from her eyes. Her breath was knocked out. She barely managed to rasp out, "My back."

Noir gingerly pulled her up against his scarred chest, and the jagged gash down the girl's back that lie where her swimsuit showed skin was painfully obvious. She whimpered as he clutched her tighter, sloshing out of the water. Miles ran out after them as Gwen and Ham hurriedly climbed off of Peter's back. Gwen cupped a hand over her mouth. They followed Noir into his tent, and he sat down and situated her against his chest with her head resting on his shoulder, and her back facing the others. Once he got a better look at the cut, he was able to feel some relief. It wouldn't need stitches, but it would definitely bruise, and badly at that. He cursed himself for not paying attention. He shouldn't have played that game, it wasn't safe. Peter left to get the first aid kit from his, Ham, and Miles' tent.

Noir wasn't the only one blaming himself. Gwen's eyes shone with guilt as she sat down by her side.

"I'm sorry Peni, I didn't mean—" she began to apologize, but the younger girl waved it off. "It's not your fault." she told her weakly, but firmly. "I'm fine."

Ham set his hand on her wet hair. Miles and Gwen exchanged a pained look. Peter came back in with the first aid kit and opened it up. He took out a few alcohol wipes.

"Alright kid, this'll sting." Peni glanced back and tensed in Noir's arms. She shivered slightly.

"It's fine. I can handle it."

He unwrapped them and delicately wiped around and in the cut. Peni fliched, but didn't say anything. The blood soaked into the wipes, leaving the gash a manageable pink and fleshy divot in her skin. Peter assessed the cut; it wasn't very long but it was deep, more of a puncture wound of sorts, but thankfully stitches wouldn't be nesscessary. A nasty bruise was already starting to develop around it. He decided to use a bit of Neosporin and two adhesive pads to cover the wound. Peni turned her head to look back at her bandaged cut and winced at the coloring around it.

"What happened anyway?" Miles asked her sadly. Peni looked at him. "I think I hit a rock underwater when I fell." she answered and sighed, "Guess I won't be swimming anymore."

"We won't be either." Gwen said. They all agreed with that. Peni rolled her eyes, standing up with a wince. "Don't let me ruin your fun." she said frustratedly.

Noir grabbed her arm and sat her back down. "You're not ruining anyone's fun, doll." he told her with a gentle sternness.

Ham nodded. "We don't care about that. We care about you and don't want to leave you out." he said. Peni gazed at the ground and smiled. "Thanks."

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We should change and start packing up. We can only stay at the campsite for a few more hours."

The kids pouted. They slouched sadly. "Aww.." they whined.

"I know. I'll get lunch."

"Where?" asked Peni, perking up at the thought of food.

Peter smirked.

***

No one was surprised when Peter B arrived back from Miles' universe with a bag in hand with the name of his favorite "C" health rated restaurant printed on its cheap plastic.

He took out the burgers, all of which were just lettuce and cheese. The condiments and toppings he asked for seperately were in packets and to-go boxes. Peni, now in a pink sweater that was a little too long on the sleeves, pushed Gwen and Miles aside. Noir tailed her, telling her to slow down. Peter was trying to peacefully set up and organize the burger stuff when everyone started to rustle around in the bag. They messed it all up and Peter wondered with a small smile why he even bothered to try with his crazy family.

Peni took a hearty bite and closed her eyes. "Mm! I was so hungry." she said gratefully.

"Ditto." agreed Ham.

"Thanks."

"No problem bud."

Miles and Gwen practically wolfed down their burgers, but not as fast as Peter, who had an onion dangling out of the corner of his mouth and some lettuce on his grey sweatshirt. Ham and Peni weren't far behind. Noir was the only one who managed to not look like a slob, taking bites in moderation.

The spiders who were finished started to take down the tents and somehow Miles got tangled in one, but they eventually finished packing. The campsite looked odd bare, and the gang felt a pang of sadness at the sight. The kids had one last battle with the irate bees that seemed to have grown in numbers around the trash and threw away the last of the evidence that they were even there, then sprinted away as fast as they could. Peter and Ham cackled and the spiderlings scowled at them. Noir failed in hiding his amusement at that.

Gwen slung her things on her back and pocketed her unused left hand. Her right hand was holding her wet swimsuit and her stuff sack was tucked under her armpit. "Can we watch a movie before we go home?" she asked. Peni liked that idea and nodded her head vigorously.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Terminator 2." Miles wasted no time in suggesting. Peter breathed out an exasperated sigh.

"Rated R, Miles. You know I'm gonna say no." he stated bluntly. Miles shrugged and gave him a toothy smile.

"I know. But it's a running joke."

They went back to Peter's apartment. The spiders all bundled and crowded on his couch with junk in hand. There was some arguing over space and squabbling over subtitles or no subtitles, but they worked it out and started Toy Story 4; but they didn't even make it halfway through the movie. No one knew who closed their eyes first, but when they blearily woke up hours later, they saw that somehow they all ended up in a pile on the couch, tangled in a mess of blankets and pillows, and some of them still with Cheeto dust caked onto their fingers (Peter specifically). In a daze, Ham fished for the remote. He found it by Noir's arm and switched the TV off, and they fell back to sleep without a problem.

***

"Mijo! We're back!"

Miles was just about to head out for school when the lock on the front door clicked and the door burst open. His mom was the first to rush in and spread her arms wide to wrap them around him tightly. His backpack made the embrace a little awkward. Miles laughed fondly. He returned the embrace and broke apart, then went to hug his dad. Jefferson squeezed his son, lifting him off the floor.

"Dad!" Miles protested. Jeff raised an eyebrow and set him down, before groaning and rubbing at his back. "I'm getting too old for that." He chuckled. Rio smiled sweetly, pressing to her husband's side. "So how was your weekend?" the cop questioned.  
"Did you do anything fun?" his mom asked.

Miles looked his parents in the eye. He shrugged and adjusted his backpack strap nonchalantly.

"Nothing." he lied.

"It was pretty boring."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, sup dawg. You actually read my story after I took a whole 100 eons on it? Sorry bout that. Here's a stale bag of carrots from my room as an apology for my slow ass.
> 
> Jk but seriously, sorry I'm so slow.
> 
> I actually have no idea how long this one is yet, but I'm satisfied with it. This is my official "The End" to writing Spider-Verse.
> 
> ...or is it?
> 
> Please kudos and review or I'll probably just curl up and die. Just kidding, I just hope y'all liked it ;)
> 
> (Comment tho)  
(Also if anyone wants me to write them a one-shot prompt I will 4 free bc I'm just that bored)


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